Sign



M. B. BENSON SIGN April 18, 1933.

Filed Dec. 14, 1929 INVENTOR Wk/125M014 ATTORNEYS "a a .1 w a w d v F If a W a 1 1. U 6 llvl 3 oo 11 p 7 7 Q m L m w 5 m M NW C a a 1 m 4 i (a.m n T a n fi m w @Patentecl Apr. 18, 1933 UNITED stares MELVIN BERNARDBENSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

were? OFFICE T MELVIN B. Benson CORPORATION, A c'oaronn'rron or NEWYoax, AND MELVIN IB. BENSON Application filed December 14, 1929. SerialNo. 414,042.

This invention relates to signs. One object of the invention is a noveland improved sign advertising. or announcing device and particularlysuch a device which is 5 usable throughout the twenty-four hours of theday with its efiectiveness unimpairedby daylight. A further object ofthe invention is .a signof this general character in which may be usedsources of light of'any desired or conventional form; A further 0b ecto-f the invention isa sign or advertisingjdevlce in which the charactersor letters of the mes-.

sage to be conveyed stand out in the daylight as well as the night asdistinctindividualunits though .the lighting is'i'ndirect and though thelight for a number of letters originates from a single source. A'further object of the invention isa sign or advertising device of thisgeneral character which is further characterized by the economy in1ts'manufacture, b-y theease and facility with which the message' orsubject-matter may be changed and by the ease and facility of repair andreplacement of parts. a For a better understanding ofthe inventionreference may be had'tov the accompanying drawing forming one embodimentthere of wherein: i

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sign made according tion' V i Fig. 2is an enlarged sectional View thereof somewhat diagrammatic, Fig. 3 is aplanview of the sign,-and Figs. 4 and 5 are sections on an'enlargedscale of parts thereof.

.Referring to the drawing myimproved sign includesa permanent framestructure including the top and bottomplates 1 and end plates 2, theseplatesbeing of any suitable material as, for example, sheet metal formedintothe desired shapefrom a single piece of metal. Certain ofthe detailsof the permanent frame unit are omitted for con- ,venience. The framecarries one or more example, to project outwardly theligh rays comingfrom the adjacent lighting to one-embodiment of the invening there isindicated only one of these SIGN diffusing glass plates 3, in theparticular embodiment. shown there being four of these diffusing glassplates, the upper oneforming with the top 1 and end walls2 a lightingchamber 4, the two intermediate ones forming between the'mselves and'theend walls a lighting chamber '5 and the lower one forming with thebottom wall land end walls 2 a lighting chamber 6. These diffusing glassplates are indicated as being supported by angle pieces 7 which aresecuredto the permanent frame to form a rigid unit therewith, as forexample to the end walls 2 by welding. There is a double back to backmirror'8 between the upper pair of diffusing glass plates I Band asimilar doublemirror (back to back) in the chamber formed between thelower pair of diffusing glass plates 3, these mirrors being disposed'atthe desired angle as, for

chambers. These mirrors, are carried by the permanent frame structurewhich lncludes the top and bottom walls 1 and end walls'2 P in anysuitable manner, as for example by channels 8 welded to the end walls 2.The lighting chambers 4, 5 and dare entirely closed with opaque walls onall sides except for the diffusing glass walls or window i 3. kConventional incandescent lamps 9 are indicated in these chambers as thelight source,

it being understood that as many lamps 9 of the desired capacityand typeas may be needed'are employed although in the drawlamps in each chamber.These lamps may conveniently be in the form of elongated tubularbulbsextending lengthwise of the lighting chamber. The electricalconnections'are also omitted for convenience. The

permanent frame structure above described carries detachably securedthereto a front plate 10 and a rear: plate 11, each of these platesbeing stencilled accordingtothe desired messageto be conveyedoradvertise- Q ment to be announced, and over the stencilled part ofthese plates there is disposed a transparent textile layer 12. I havefound that white silk which has been suitably treated to render itfireproof forms a very satisfactory textile or fabric layer, it having avery fine mesh and functioning to smooth out the image projected fromthe mirror. It is pasted, for example, on the back or inside of theplates with a view to minimizing the effect of the weather conditionsthereupon. The textile layer 12 is preferably white although it may, ofcourse, be desirable in some cases to have it colored. For example amberor faint yellow tint may be employed to good advantage in certain cases.The front and back plates 10 and 11 form the opaque side closing Wallsfor the lighting chambers 4, 5 and 6. They, therefore, form a tightlight seal with the top and bottom walls 1 and the end walls 2 as, forexample, by engaging the angles 01' flanges 13 formed from the top wall1 and the angle pieces 7 which carry the diffusing glass 8. These frontand back stencilled plates may be detachably secured in any suitablemanner, but in the present instance are indicated as slid in from thetop within grooves formed by side flanges 15 formed from the end walls 2of the casing, these flanges being joined at the top and bottom byelongated bridging members 15 and 14 respectively. U-shaped springmembers 14; are secured to the lower wall 1 in the interior thereofagainst which the lower edges of the plates 10 and 11 abut in theassembled position. The chambers 18 for the reception of the removableplates 10 and 11 are indicated in Fig. 3. The difiusing glass plates 3may be of any suitable form and color to cause the letters of themessage to stand out in clear and distinct outline in the daylight. Theymay be formed with a diffusing surface in any suitable manner, as, forexample, by finely corrugating and rippling or by pitting orsandblasting or they may be of a special composition glass whichfunctionsnot only to give the desired color and character to the lightrays passing therethrough, but to thoroughly break up and diffuse thelight coming from the sources 9. Any suitable color may be used, but Ihave found that blue, red, amber or green may be used to goodsatisfaction. By properly diffusing and coloring the glass plates 8 andby insertion of sources of light of the desired capacity properlydistributed within the lighting chambers 4, 5 and 6 these glass platesare illuminated in such manner as to form in effect a source of coloredlight from which the rays of light 16 emerge to strike the mirrors 8 andfrom there to be projected through the stencilled plates 10 and 11.

These mirrors are thereby uniformly lighted over their Whole surface andthey project forwardly the images of the colored glass plates 3 ratherthan the images of the source.

The stencilled letters or characters in the front and back plates areuniformly lighted by the light rays of the color of the glass plates 3with the result that the letters or l and are distinctly defined. in thedaylight as well as in the night, the image of the whole colored plate 3being projected upon the textile layer 12. The latter functionsto softenthe projected light without appreciable absorption and to smooth out andrender more uniform the character of light images proj ected forward.When it is desired to change the message or advertisement it is onlynecessary to remove the opaque stencilled plates 10 and 11 andsubstitute others therefor carrying the desired message, the other partsof the sign being retained as a unit in posiion at all times. In theparticular embodiment shown the lighting chamber 5 serves as a source oflight for the lower part of the front stencilled plate 10 and for theupper stencilled part of the plate 11 while the lighting chambers 4 and6 serve only as a source of light respectively for the upper stencilledpart of the plate 10 and the lower stencilled part of the plate 11. Thesign can be very cheaply manufactured and assembled due to thesimplicity of the construction thereof and the use of standard material,

while the operating characteristics of this layer of some protectingmaterial such for example as thesheet of rubber 20. L-shaped members 19are secured to the end walls 2 to form with the flanges 15 and theflanges 13 guide grooves for the back and front plates 10 and 11. V

I claim:

1. An electric sign including a casing, four light beam diffusing glassplates carried by said casing and forming lighting chambers l at thetop, middle and bottom portions thereof with reflecting chambersdisposed between the lighting chambers,.double back to back mirrorscarried Within said reflecting chambers and inclined to the glassdifiusing' plates, each double mirror being adapted to project images ofthe diffusing glass plates and stencilled plates carried in front andback of said casing directly opposite the reflecting chambers.

2. A sign of the character set forth in claim 1 wherein the stencilledplates are contained Within guideways formed by flanges on the endvvalls of the casing and by members bridging'said flanges.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification. V

MELVIN BERNARD BENSON.

